Two months to the day that I last wrote here. I’m still being cheap, but I haven’t been very motivated to write about it lately. In September, I had an extended viral illness that limited my ability to go couponing and that also motivated me to start writing fiction again as a way to entertain myself. As I often am with new enterprises, I’ve become a bit obsessed with that, which has left less time for blogging. Oh, and the new season of Glee began. That’s also very time-consuming.
Also, I was a little distracted by the whole process of kicking out the new roommate, who spent most of her time at home drinking 40s. If you can drink 40s all day and night and not trip over my cats or growl at me in the morning, more power to you; but if I have to put up with any of your 40s-induced crap, you are out of here. So about a week-and-a-half into her being here, I told her I wanted her to leave at the end of the month. It was actually pretty civil, but I still thought it a very nice gift when she finally moved out on my birthday.
But I am still being cheap and thrifty. (Technically, I’d be thriftier to have a roommate, but I’m ready for a bit of a break right now, and more work has been coming in, so I can afford the luxury for the timebeing.) Dekalb and I picked 2-3 bushels of apples from a tree in my neighborhood and I processed them in September and October, ending up with about 4 gallons of dried apples and 18 quarts of applesauce. Eighteen quarts is not enough to last me a year, but I still have a lot leftover from last year, so I decided I could stop at 18 this time.
Today Dekalb and I went to CVS, where – using coupons and ExtraBucks – I got free hand lotion, free iced coffee, free instant coffee, and free make-up. I spent $7 in ExtraBucks, $2 and change on a CVS giftcard (which I got instead of ExtraBucks on a purchase this summer), and got back a $10 AmEx giftcard. So, technically, I made a little money.
I was glad for the make-up because I could not locate my one eyeliner pencil before my last job interview, and the only eyeshadow I could find in my collection was sparkly gold. In other words, not really interview make-up. Of course, I don’t think women should have to wear make-up to get a job, but for some reason wearing it is equated with professionalism and respect; and once I get my foot in the door, I can stop. Muahahaha! On the other hand, make-up it does come in handy when one has to show up to a job interview with an indeterminate but misery-inducing virus, which I did in September. I didn’t get the job, but boy did I look healthy.
Oh, and now that I have no roommate, Downstairs Cat has taken over the second bedroom. She convinced me to move two cat trees in there for her (one that a neighbor put out by the dumpster, and one that I am babysitting for some friends who have a geriatric cat who no longer climbs – I had to promise to give it back if they get a more lithesome cat one of these days). She spends a lot of her day there now, which kind of makes her more of an upstairs cat than Upstairs Cat.
Oh, and on the decluttering front – I haven’t been doing much of that lately, and I think it must be because I had been so successful with decluttering from January through July. I have made a trip or two to St. Vinny’s that I didn’t report here, but they’ve been fewer – as have been my postings to Craigslist and Freecycle. I do have a piece or two of furniture that I should probably post to Craigslist, but they’re not taking up much room so I keep forgetting. Once winter really sets in, though, I’m sure they will feel oppressive and I will be itching to get rid of them. The house always feels more cluttered in winter.